Unlocking investment for urban regeneration in North East England
Hartlepool’s town center faced vacant, deteriorating buildings, fragmented business use and low footfall traffic. These conditions were driving down productivity, which had a knock-on effect on job creation. Hartlepool Borough Council (HBC) needed a holistic strategy and durable plan to unlock public and private investment to shift the town's trajectory and deliver lasting community value.
The solution required tying skills to local industry demand, restoring heritage, diversifying the retail core and connecting the marina, town center and neighborhoods — all while meeting stringent funding regulations and aligning with the Green Book, the U.K. government’s guidance for assessing the costs, benefits and risks of options for achieving public objectives.
HBC’s answer was its Towns Fund program. This coordinated regeneration initiative brought together five projects across the town center: two skills academies for civil engineering and health and social care, a shopping center upgrade, a waterfront connectivity project and the restoration of a chapel transformed into a wedding and events venue. Jacobs supported the development and business cases for all five projects and later secured additional financial support from central government to enhance the local film and television industry with its Screen Industries Production Village (SIPV).
The Town Deal investment (£25m) committed to five projects. A further $5.2m (£4m) was provided through private investment
Grant provided through the Levelling Up Fund for the Screen Industries Production Village (£16.4m)
Additional learners enrolled on wide ranging civil engineering qualifications at the new Skills Academy, with courses ranging from groundworks, plating, fabrication, welding and rail infrastructure.
What we did differently
The business cases were designed around place-based and social value outcomes. Our economists integrated heritage and public benefits, skills pipelines and tourism impacts, showing how the outcomes would improve community life and drive long-term growth. This included improving streets and public spaces.
We developed community-driven concept designs and Green Book-compliant business cases for each project so they could stand alone and work together as integrated projects in one investable program. Together, they connected key outcomes — driving skills, improving wellbeing, protecting heritage, empowering retail and connecting public spaces — all in one single, coherent urban regeneration story. Heritage was treated as an asset throughout, with the program restoring and repurposing multiple buildings carefully and consciously, including buildings protected for their historic significance with Grade II listing, to provide new spaces that benefit the community.
To strengthen deliverability, we aligned program phasing with property acquisition, planning and procurement. We also supported subsidy control compliance alongside key stakeholders and explored future governance options with local partners.
Building on the momentum generated from the Towns Fund, we prepared the SIPV business case, securing $22 million (£16.4 million) from the U.K. government through the Levelling Up Fund investment for 2,750 m² of new, versatile creative floorspace and 131 jobs to retain talent and grow the local screen ecosystem. This new hub for pre and postproduction work and vendor space complements existing assets such as The Northern Studios, a large-scale studio complex, and the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) incubator, delivering a creative industries cluster for the local area. On the back of this delivery a further £15m of investment has been secured to expand the existing Northern Studios.
Permanent, full-time jobs to be created for the Screen Industries Production Village
Jobs created for the new repurposed Wesley Chapel boutique hospitality venue
The size of the Civil Engineering Skills Academy site, providing training for up to 1,200 students annually
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Our team is proud to have worked with Hartlepool Borough Council to turn bold ideas into real community benefits: new jobs, higher productivity, restored heritage and a stronger, more connected Hartlepool. Together, we unlocked investment and delivered lasting outcomes for local people. We see it as a model for other post-industrial towns, demonstrating how vision, planning, and community engagement can deliver real change.
Lead, Cities Solutions, Europe
Outcomes that matter
The regeneration initiative is strengthening local talent retention and building skills in key growth sectors. The Health & Social Care Skills Academy opened in September 2024, creating training and employment pathways in a sector facing national shortages. The Civil Engineering Skills Academy opened in April 2024, and the ‘real life’ training center was completed in March 2025, expanding capacity for advanced engineering and construction skills. These two facilities are already training and qualifying in excess of 1,000 new, additional learners a year.
The SIPV is also designed to retain young talent by providing high-quality jobs and leverages the Northern School of Art to create training and upskilling opportunities. By bringing together firms and individuals across television, film and the creative industries, the development aims to create a vibrant local ecosystem.
The program is also creating a stronger, more connected town center. The Waterfront Connectivity project is delivering nine phases of walking, cycling and open space upgrades including new access to marina and water-based activity. Alongside these improvements, targeted street and public realm upgrades drive tourism, create a coherent creative quarter and deliver a stronger connection.
Historic and underused heritage assets and land have been transformed into productive, community-serving spaces. The Wesley Chapel, an iconic local landmark and Grade II listed building, is being repurposed as a boutique hospitality venue, supporting 55 jobs and contributing to the tourism industry. Further plans include restoring another Grade II building — the Binns building — and creating clearer gateways and driving mixed-business use for the town center.
Collaboration has been key throughout the program, with HBC and the Hartlepool Town Deal Board leading, supported with delivery by education, health, private and voluntary sector partners across the five projects, together with sector bodies and creative industry partners supporting the SIPV. Jacobs provided the value case, appraisal and program advisory backbone that enabled funding and planning to move at pace.
